Raymond Balze (4 May 1818 – 26 February 1909) was a French painter and art copyist.

Life

He was born in Rome, the son of Joseph Balze (1781–1847), grand chamberlain to

Charles IV of Spain Charles IV (; 11 November 1748 – 20 January 1819) was King of Spain and ruler of the Spanish Empire from 1788 to 1808. The Spain inherited by Charles IV gave few indications of instability, but during his reign, Spain entered a series of disa ...

during the latter's exile in Rome between 1811 and 1819. His elder brother Paul Balze was also active as an artist. During his stay in Rome, Joseph Balze met the painter

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( ; ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassicism, Neoclassical Painting, painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic ...

and commissioned several works from him after 1814. Raymond entered the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris on 6 October 1832, becoming copyist to the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

. By now Ingres was director of the French Academy in Rome, from which he requested that Paul and Raymond be sent to copy the 1519 Vatican loggias by

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

. These 52 copies were exhibited in 1840 in the chapel of the école des beaux-arts in Paris. In 1843, to reply to a request by Ingres to find a "monumental home", Félix Duban proposed placing them on the first floor galleries in the Palais des Études. These copies were placed in the gallery vaults between 1854 and 1855 by the decorative painters Charles Chauvin and Camille-Auguste Gastine. The brothers' other collaborations included the 1855 copy of Ingres' '' The Apotheosis of Homer'' for one of the stairways in the Louvre, the 1875–1881 restoration of the

Francesco Primaticcio Francesco Primaticcio (; April 30, 1504 – 1570) was an Italian Mannerism, Mannerist Painting, painter, architect and sculpture, sculptor who spent most of his career in France. Biography Born in Bologna, he trained under Giulio Romano ( ...

frescoes in the abbot's chapel in Chaalis Abbey, and the 1891 design for a mosaic after Raphael showing ''The Vision of Ezekiel'' for the facade of Saint-Jacques de Montauban church in

Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

. Raymond was also attached to the Mauvernay stained-glass studio at Saint-Galmier (Loire). He took part in the 1848 competition and was made a first level laureate. He was commissioned to take part in the decoration of the Hôtel de ville de Paris by Ingres. He also produced religious works, such as ''The Charity of Saint Elisabeth of Hungary'' (1866, musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon) and ''The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine'' (1866, église sainte Catherine, Lille). Raymond Balze died in Paris on 26 February 1909.

Gallery

File:Raymond Balze - La Vierge à l'Enfant avec Sainte-Anne.jpg, ''The Virgin and Child with

Saint Anne According to apocrypha, as well as Christianity, Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's Gosp ...

'' File:Raymond Balze - Le Christ apaisant la tempête.jpg, ''Christ Calming the Storm'', 1848 File:Raymond Balze - Johanna von Orleans.jpg, '' Jeanne d’Arc'' File:Beauvais (60), MUDO, Raymond Balze - Laissez venir à moi les petits enfants, gouache, 1866 1.JPG, ''Let the little children come to me'', 1866

External links

*https://archive.org/stream/archivesdelartfr845sociuoft/archivesdelartfr845sociuoft_djvu.txt {{DEFAULTSORT:Balze, Paul 1818 births 1909 deaths 19th-century French painters French male painters Sibling artists 19th-century French male artists Artists from the Papal States